Rs 410,000 per night for a room in Washington for Zardari Alone! (Recent Official US Visit)

[LRE]

Monday, May 11, 2009
By our correspondent

WASHINGTON: Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director General Dr Shoaib Suddle and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who all needed top security in Washington, were not given a room on the ultra-protected presidential 6th floor of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington during President Asif Ali Zardari’s stay. But his security detail of three sepoys, two lance naiks, one Hawaldar and several other officers below the rank of lieutenant general were lodged on the same floor, said a document published by the Pakistan embassy on the visit.

President Zardari stayed in the $5,000 per night (approximately Rs 410,000) presidential suite, while PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was given a separate suite, which cost $2,600 per night.

Responding to a journalist’s question, a Pakistan embassy official said Zardari’s stay was the cheapest as compared with the past rulers, who spent much more money while staying in hotels in Washington. Moreover, he said, this was the requirement of the hotel that the president should stay at the 6th floor because of security concerns.

He said if other members of the president’s delegation would have been accommodated in another hotel, that would have been objected to by the critics as discrimination. He said the president had come to the sole super power of the world to improve bilateral ties. He said what was spent on the stay of Zardari and his entourage at the hotel matters nothing in view of the gains that this trip had made for the country.

No one without an official security badge (clearance pin) could enter the 6th floor, while entry to other floors was open. The official media team was included in the 62-member delegation of Zardari, but many other journalists were also in Washington at government expense.

A total of 26 rooms were available on the 6th floor (listed rates between $350 and $900 per night) while on the 5th floor, all ministers and the ISI and IB chiefs were accommodated. A total of 22 rooms were listed for the delegation on this floor (same rates as on the 6th floor). A media centre was set up in two lounges — Holmes and Hughes rooms. One room was given free of charge by the hotel as a group discount.

The list of the president’s delegation, published by the Pakistan embassy, gave details of officials of the Foreign Office and other departments, personal staff, security staff and media team.

President Zardari and Bilawal were first and second on the Pakistan embassy’s list. Other officials listed in the order included: Shah Mehmood Qureshi (foreign minister), Nazar Muhammad Gondal (food and agriculture minister), Rehman Malik (interior minister), Qamar Zaman Kaira (information minister), Salman Faruqui (secretary-general to the president), Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmed Tarin (adviser to the prime minister on finance), Farahnaz Ispahani (MNA), Kamal Majidullah (special assistant), Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Athar Ali (secretary defence), Farhatullah Babar (spokesperson for the presidency), Dr Shoaib Suddle, Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Zafar Altaf (PARC chairman) and Ghulam Murtaza Solangi (Radio Pakistan DG).

The personal staff included: Maj-Gen Tasawwar Hussain (personal physician to the president), Brig Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain (MS to the president), Cdr Amir Saeed (acting deputy MS), Sqn Ldr Malik Jalal Farooq (ADC to the president), Saifullah (protocol assistant) and Mushtaq Ahmed (valet).

The security staff of 10 people included: Brig Muhammad Iftikhar Mansoor (DG security), Lt-Col Babar Mumtaz (chief security officer of the president), Lt-Col Adil Rehmani (security officer), Gul Khan Bhounar (security officer), Hav Muhammad Jamil (security officer), Lance Naik Gul Zameen (security officer), Sepoy Tahir Azam (security officer), Lance Naik Abar Ali (security officer), Muhammad Habib Sultan (security officer) and Sepoy Sajid Hussain Shah (security officer).

The officials from the Foreign Office included: Attiya Mehmood (addl secretary Americas), M Haroon Shaukat (addl secretary Afghanistan and ECO), Nasir Ali Khan (ambassador at large), Ghalib Iqbal (chief of protocol), Ameer Khurram Rathore (FMO director), Muhammad Amjad Aziz Qazi (deputy chief of protocol), Imran Ali Chaudhry (director Americas), Adeel Ahmed Khan (protocol officer) and Nadeem Hotiana (DPIO).

The officials from other departments included: Khurshid Anwar Butt (joint DG/in-charge Advance Security Team), Malik Zahoor Ahmed (NAPHIS DG), Rashid Bashir Mazari (interior joint secretary), Col Hammad (staff officer), Ashiq Saleem (Advance Security Team), Muhammad Sajjad Haider (FIA deputy director), Muhammad Farhan Zahid (SP/ICT) and Abdul Majid Aasi (NCMC AD).

The official media team included: Shazia Sikander (PTV reporter, team leader), Salahuddin Malik (PTV cameraman), Abdul Ghaffar (PTV engineer), Syed Anwarul Hasan (PTV reporter), Khurshid Naqvi (PTV cameraman), Anwar Naseem (PTV engineer), Muhammad Tariq (PID photographer), Syed Adnan Ali Rizvi (PID photographer), Javed Akhtar (APP director news), Ilyas Chaudhry (APP reporter), Tariq Hameed (APP cameraman), Zain Ali Javed (APP engineer) and Fakhar Abbas Qamer (Radio Pakistan).

The Pakistan embassy booklet revealed that Zardari stayed in the Thomas Jefferson Suite (Room No 610, nearly 3,000 square feet, listed rate US$4,199 per night plus $608 tax) and Bilawal took the Abraham Lincoln Suite (Room No 605, 1,425 square feet, listed rate US$2,299 per night plus $333 tax) of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel at Pennsylvania Avenue, respectively. These suites are on the 6th floor.

Others who stayed on the same floor included: Mr and Mrs Husain Haqqani (Room 612); Kamal Majidullah, special assistant to the prime minister on water resources, (Room No 626); Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Athar Ali, secretary defence (Room No 624); Farhatulah Babar (Room No 622); Zafar Altaf, PARC chairman, (Room No 641); Murtaza Solangi (Room No 642); Maj-Gen Tasawwar Hussain (Room No 616); Brig Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain (Room No 614); Cdr Amir Saeed (Room No 618); Sqn Ldr Malik Jalal Farooq (Room No 600); Saifullah (Room No 630); Mushtaq Ahmed (Room No 619); Brig Muhammad Iftikhar Mansoor (Room No 623); Lt-Col Babar Mumtaz (Room No 625); Lt-Col Adil Rehmani (Room No 628); Gul Khan Bhounar (Room No 601); Hawaldar Muhammad Jamil and Lance Naik Gul Zameen (Room No 627); Sepoy Tahir Azam and Lance Naik Akbar Ali (Room No 629); Sepoy Muhammad Habib Sultan and Sepoy Sajid Hussain Shah (Room No 631); Attiya Mehmood (Room No 626); M Haroon Shaukat (Room No 632); Ghalib Iqbal (Room No 620); and Muhammad Amjad Aziz Qazi (Room No 634). The ISI DG got Room No 523 on the 5th floor. The IB DG was in Room No 528 and Ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Room No 510, Nazar Muhammad Gondal in Room No 515, Rehman Malik in Room No 500, Qamar Zaman Kaira in Room No 544 and Shaukat Tarin in Room No 508.

The Capital Suite (Room No 640) was reserved for presidential meetings. Rooms 643 and 644 were taken by the Pakistan embassy as the camp office. Other than these 62 members of the presidential delegation, several members of the private media were also in Washington at government expense. They stayed at different hotels and travelled separately, but were paid by the government to cover the visit.

http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=176853